Grand Canal Hangzhou Scenic Area

The Grand Canal Hangzhou Scenic Area preserves and interprets the southernmost stretch of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the vast artificial waterway that is itself one of the great engineering works of premodern China. Over many centuries, the canal shaped Hangzhou into a meeting point where the products, cuisines, fashions, and customs of northern and southern China converged, and the city's canal corridor still carries that layered heritage today.

The history of the canal at Hangzhou is the history of the city's role as the southern terminus of a transportation system that connected the productive south to the political north for more than a millennium. The ten scenes of the canal, a curated set of named viewpoints, summarize the most evocative features of this stretch, from evening rain on an old bridge to the sound of temple bells at a canal-side monastery.

The traditional way to experience the canal is by boat. Modern replicas of the historic grain boats, redesigned to combine traditional forms with contemporary technology, now serve as the principal vehicle for canal tourism. Departing from the Wulinmen pier and heading north, they carry passengers along a route lined with distinctive sights, including old residential neighborhoods along the water, a moon-viewing bridge, and a former imperial granary.

The canal is also a vehicle for experiencing what is often described as Hangzhou's "slow life." A boat ride on the water offers a pace and a perspective on the city quite unlike the faster rhythms of the streets above, and the daily and nightly cruises have become a favored way for both residents and visitors to encounter a quieter face of the city.

For travelers to Hangzhou, the Grand Canal Scenic Area offers a distinctive complement to the more famous West Lake, a chance to engage with the working waterway that shaped the city as a crossroads of goods and cultures for more than a thousand years.